No abstract

State of the art  Organic apricot production is currently not profitable.  The main obstacle to sustainable profitability is brown rot caused by the fungus Monilinia laxa (Aderh. & Ruhl).  In the current apricot germplasm no source of total resistance has been shown, but some varieties are expressing interesting levels of tolerance.  A good evaluation of the M. laxa symptoms is essential for a precise diagnosis of the infection and to appreciate differences between tolerant and susceptible varieties and genotypes.

Monilinia fructicola has been a quarantine pathogen in Europe until 2014; however, the disease risk remains large for Prunus species, because of the continuing spreading around Europe. In order to assess the impact of this fungus on apricot fruits, differences in variety susceptibility need to be evaluated.